


Same Mirror, Different Orphan

by thedemonkingawakes



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Gen, Not Epilogue Compliant, mentions of harry/hermione
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-08
Updated: 2014-02-08
Packaged: 2018-01-11 15:20:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 1,892
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1174632
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thedemonkingawakes/pseuds/thedemonkingawakes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Teddy Lupin likes to wander the castle at night, especially on the anniversary of the Battle For Hogwarts. One time, he finds the Mirror of Erised and learns a valuable lesson.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

It had been fifteen years since the Battle for Hogwarts and Teddy Lupin had grown quite a lot. Teddy was tall for his age and just a little bit skinny. Also, Teddy was unusual in several ways.

For one Teddy had never met his parents, as they had both died during the Battle for Hogwarts, and for another, Teddy was a metamorphmagus. This meant he could change his appearance whenever he wanted, although he usually kept his appearance the same, with piercing green eyes and turquoise hair tipped with pink. He kept the green eyes mainly so he wouldn't stick out among his adoptive siblings so much.

For Teddy had in fact been adopted by his godfather, Harry Potter, soon after the Battle for Hogwarts. Teddy didn't mind the fact that he was adopted, as he had no memories of his parents, and only knew what they looked like from photographs that Harry had. In the fifteen years since the Battle, Teddy had gained an adoptive mother, and several adopted siblings.

For in the fifteen years Harry had married Hermione Granger and they had had three kids together. The oldest, James, had just started going to Hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry that very year, and was in Gryffindor, like Teddy. Albus was eight and Lily was five. Teddy adored the Potters and they treated each other as if they really were related. Teddy always spent some of his time at home on school holiday playing with his younger siblings, and had tried to look out for James during his first year, without being overprotective.

So, while there was no doubt that Teddy Lupin loved his adoptive family, he had longed for as long as he could remember to be able to see his parents in a more real way than a picture.


	2. Chapter 2

Teddy Lupin woke up as his alarm clock rang softly, just once in his ear to let him know that it was 12:01, before shutting off so that it would not wake the other people in his dorm. This was because it was the fifteenth anniversary if the Battle for Hogwarts, and he wanted to honor the dead -especially his parents-—privately, in his own way.

He reached under his four poster bed and pulled out his most prized possessions, the invisibility cloak (that made up part of the deathly hallows, though Teddy didn't know it at the time) and the Marauders map. Teddy treasured these items above all others for several reasons. He prized both items because they allowed him and his friends/siblings/cousins to sneak around the castle at any time of night without being caught - mostly. But he prized the Marauders map for another reason too. It was the only significant thing of his father's that he had, and this was the main reason he treasured the map.

And so it was, on May 2, 2013, exactly fifteen years after the Battle for Hogwarts, that Teddy found himself pulling out he cloak and the map, just like he did every year. He wasn't exactly sure why he did this, but Teddy had been doing the same thing every year since he had come to Hogwarts. He would always visit the same places; the angel statues on either side of the front door that were dedicated to those who had fought and died defending Hogwarts, to the patch of swamp that Flitwick had left after Fred and George had dropped out of school, (and) that no one had had the heart to get rid of after the battle, and the Shrieking Shack. He always spent a few hours at his last stop, sometimes staying all night, just because he felt closer to his father here, more so than anywhere else on the grounds. But tonight, Teddy couldn't feel his father's presence and found himself leaving the Shack earlier than he normally did. He didn't really feel like going back to bed though, so Teddy began to wander around the school, trying to decide what he should do.

"I suppose I could sneak into the Ravenclaw common room and get Victoire" Teddy murmured to himself as he walked.

But he knew in his heart that he wasn't going to do that, because he wanted to be alone tonight, to mourn in private for the parents he couldn't remember. Also, Teddy knew that while Victoire would come with him if he asked, the night was painful for her too and she preferred to stay hidden away all day. Teddy suspected this was so no one would see her cry over the uncle she never met and over how George never quite got over Fred's death, and was sadder than he had ever been before the battle.

So Teddy decided against seeking comfort from his girlfriend and instead just wandered through the halls near the library, letting his feet choose their own route, since he had none planned. Eventually, Teddy found himself in a disused classroom, facing a large mirror. Around the top of the mirror the words:  _Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt no wohsi_  were engraved.

Teddy didn't know what the words meant, for they were not written in any language he was familiar with, although he thought that the writing might be elvish. Instead, Teddy turned his attention toward the mirror and gasped. For standing behind him were two people. One was a male who looked young but shabby and careworn, while the other was a girl who seemed to be younger than the man and had bubblegum pink hair, exactly the color of the tips of his own hair.

Once Teddy got over his initial fright, he looked more closely at the people in the mirror, and saw that while they were both smiling; their eyes were full of unshed tears.

"Mom! Dad!" Teddy whispered, not knowing he was echoing the words Harry Potter had said on that exact same spot twenty-one years earlier, because the instant Teddy saw the tears in their eyes, he had put it all together and realized that these must be his parents, Remus and Tonks Lupin.

Teddy spent many hours that night staring at them in the mirror, trying to take in every detail he could about them. All too soon though, it was 5am and Teddy left to try and get a little sleep before his day started. Even though all classes were canceled for the day, which had been declared a wizarding holiday to honor those who had fought to defeat Voldemort, both those who fought in the final battle and those who had fought the war in other ways, like Dobby the Elf, or at other times, like Professor Albus Dumbledore. Teddy knew he needed the sleep so he would be able to maintain a front of coping, of not being as affected by it as he was.

He also wanted to be able to stay strong for Victoire and James and all his other friends who had lost someone in the war.


	3. Chapter 3

When Teddy woke up again, it was 9:29 in the morning and the scent of pastries was spreading throughout the room. The smell was coming from a napkin containing several scones that had been set on his bedside table, most likely by James, because while James didn't know the extent to which the day hurt him, James did know that his brother became withdrawn and quiet all day, and that when he thought no one that mattered could see him, a look of sadness came across Teddy's face.

As Teddy sat on the window seat near his bed eating the pastries, his thoughts turned towards the mirror from last night. After a while, Teddy remembered Harry telling him about his first year at Hogwarts. In particular, Teddy remembered Harry's story about his encounter with the mirror of Erised, a mirror that would show you nothing more or less than the deepest, most desperate desire of your heart. Harry had never said what he had seen in the mirror, and Teddy had never asked, because it seemed like too personal of a question. However, as Teddy thought about it, the mirror Teddy had encountered last night sounded almost exactly like the mirror Harry had described, because the deepest desire of Teddy's heart had been to be able to see his parents in a more real way than a picture.

After lunch, Teddy went back to the room where he had found the mirror the night before, but when he got to the room, the mirror was gone. In its place were lines written in the same language as the words on the mirror. This time, however, the lines were written underneath in English.

**_And I've lost who I am_ **

**_And I can't understand_ **

**_Why my heart is so broken_ **

**_Rejecting your love_ **

**_Without love gone wrong_ **

**_Lifeless words_ **

**_Carry on_ **

**_But I know All I know_ **

**_Is that the ends beginning_ **

**_Who I am from the start_ **

**_Take me home to my heart_ **

**_Let me go_ **

**_And I will run_ **

**_I will not be silenced_ **

**_All this time spent in vain_ **

**_Wasted years_ **

**_Wasted gain_ **

**_All is lost_ **

**_Hope remains_ **

**_And this war's not over_ **

**_There's a light_ **

**_There's the sun_ **

**_Taking all the shattered ones_ **

**_To the place we belong_ **

**_And his love will conquer_ **

**_Yesterday I died, tomorrow's bleeding_ **

**_Fall into your sunlight_ **

At first these words confused Teddy, but as he sat and thought about them, they began to make some sense. The words were saying that the ones who keep coming back to the mirror are the shattered ones, and that the mirror may seem like it is fixing them, but really they just have to face the world and find friends who will help hold them together. As he read through the words once more, he noticed a single phrase set a little bit apart from the rest of the words.

_They will be here when you need them._

At this a few tears leaked down Teddy's cheek, because he felt like he always needed his parents with them. But as Teddy wiped away his tears, he realized that his parents would always be with him in his heart and that once a year, on May 2, the mirror would be there for him so he could see his parents again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The words where the mirror was are from the song Shattered by Trading Yesterday.


	4. Epilogue

That night, Teddy had Victoire meet him outside of the Ravenclaw common room and together they snuck up to the Muggle Studies classroom, bringing with them Teddy's IPod touch.

When they got to the Muggle Studies classroom, Victoire found a cable for plugging the iPod into the TV, while Teddy turned the TV on to the right channel and grabbed a bag of marshmallows. The they settled down on one of the sofas situated around the TV and watched random episodes of TV Shows until they fell asleep, Victoire with her head on Teddy's shoulder and Teddy had wrapped his arms around Victoire like she was a stuffed animal, something for him to cling to and to help anchor him in the real world.

That was how Hermione Granger, the Muggle Studies teacher, found them the next morning when she came in to set up for her classes that day. Curled up together, comforting each other, protecting each other from the harshness of the world.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for reading. 
> 
> I do have Hermione keeping her maiden name even though she is married. Also, they have muggle appliances in the muggle studies classroom.

**Author's Note:**

> I actually wrote this story for the anniversary of the Battle of Hogwarts, but I am only just now uploading it.
> 
> Thank you so much to my amazing beta, Little Miss Thalia Grace (on fanfiction.net).  
> This was partially inspired by a post on Tumblr.


End file.
